St. John’s will aim to continue its early-season momentum in the Big East when it visits Xavier on Tuesday night in Cincinnati.
The Red Storm (12-3, 3-1 Big East) celebrated the memory of their late, colorful head coach by beating Butler 70-62 on “Lou Carnesecca Day” on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Storm were led by 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals from RJ Luis Jr., his fourth double-double of the season. But it was Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond who took over the game in the final five minutes, scoring five points with two steals and an assist as St. John’s rallied from a seven-point deficit in the second half.
Richmond finished with 11 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals.
“I think he took over the game at that time,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said of Richmond. “But he needs to do that from the opening tip to the end of the game, that’s the way he needs to play. He was responsible for this win … but he needs to do that the whole game.”
St. John’s won the game despite going just 1-for-21 (4.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Red Storm have shot just 30.9 percent from deep this season.
“When you go 1-for-21 and you win the game, and you’re not doing many things right, that speaks volumes about what you’re all about,” Pitino said. “I think they were all good 3s, there weren’t any bad ones. They were wide open. We’ll continue to work at it.”
The Musketeers (9-6, 1-3) return home after a disappointing 69-63 road loss to Georgetown on Friday night.
Xavier’s leading scorer and rebounder Zach Freemantle returned to action at Georgetown after missing three games due to a lower-body injury. Freemantle posted team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in Xavier’s third conference loss in four tries.
“I worried a little bit about his return to play because it’s really hard to do,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said of Freemantle. “That first game, you can see where he’s a little rusty. Maybe he was at times, but I thought he did really well. He was one of the best players on our team.”
Freemantle was injured in Xavier’s 68-65 loss to crosstown rival Cincinnati on Dec. 14. After starting 8-2, Xavier has dropped four of five, with all four losses coming by six points or fewer.
–Field Level Media
